12615 Mendesdeleon

Also known as Mendesdeleon

asteroid

In the Vinony graph

Within Vinony's link graph, 12615 Mendesdeleon connects to HTML element, list of minor planets: 12001–13000 and JPL Small-Body Database.

It is catalogued under topics including Astronomical objects discovered in 1960, Discoveries by Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Discoveries by Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld.

Its subject is documented across 15 Wikipedia language editions.

Picture of the Day · NASA

Pathfinder on Mars

2026-07-04

On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.

via NASA APOD